How I came to be here: Met my Australian man in England. I came over to test the waters, went back, came back, went back and finally came back a married woman. New South Wales has been home for a little over 4 years.

First impressions: The bold blue sky; loud birds; smell of eucalyptus in the air and all the shiny happy people.

Three favourite things about Australia: The weather – winter is great, as it is cold enough to get cosy but warm enough to get out of bed, the possibilities and positivity and all the different old houses... maybe that’s four?

Favourite spots in Australia: The Hunter Valley because it is home; Sydney for its sunny energy, harbour, beaches and quirky older suburbs; Tasmania for its countryside, cooler climate and history and the Blue Mountains for the vistas and old world charm.

Misses about home: Family and friends; European holidays; the clothes and the wider variety of shops; country pubs and traditional Christmases. Christmassy department stores are just plain odd when the customers are walking about in shorts and flip-flops! The picnic-style carol concerts are always fun though.

I am originally from Romsey, a beautiful market town on the edge of the New Forest on England’s (sometimes) sunny south coast, where I grew up with my mum and dad and younger brother, Daniel. For the benefit of any fans of the old Ruth Rendell television series, brace yourself, for Romsey was actually the stunt double for fictional town, Kingsmarkham.

My immigration story begins in February 2001. A few months earlier, I had returned from a summer frolicking in Greece. I had just found a new job, was about to move in with friends and was toying with the idea of future travel. One freezing February evening, I was enjoying a girls’ night out in nearby Salisbury. We ended up at our favourite club de jour, The Chapel, where we met up with my friend’s then-boyfriend who was out on the town with the guys from his training course, one of whom was a very tall, dashing Australian, called Lyndon.

Our first date followed, which I maintain was one of the highest calibre as it incorporated a broad range of social activities: drinks, cinema followed by a curry and a lift back home. Basically, it was a night of speed dating, only with the same person.

Over the course of spring and summer, all went swimmingly and come September, we had the "seriously considering our future chat" as Lyndon was due back in Australia a few months later. We agreed that I would quit my job in March (hurrah!) and venture out to test the Australian waters for a two-month holiday.

The months ticked by and after New Year, Lyndon bid farewell and flew back to Australia to take up his new post in Adelaide. Come March, I kissed my stapler goodbye and headed Down Under. Having never been to Australia, I had little idea of what to expect other than a few grainy visions of weather-beaten men donning cork hats and loud women called Sheila.

Lyndon’s unit (bungalow to any Brits out there) was located out in the suburbs on the edge of a man-made lake, a street back from the beach. Inside it was modern, roomy and fully-functional and we even had one of those waste disposal units in our sink. But that aside, my first impression of the local area was that it was all a bit...Truman-show like. The front gardens alongside the lake walkway were all clipped and manicured to the exact same length as the next - without a rebel stray blade to connect me to the rambling countryside of home. It later transpired that the contract-mowers were very efficient in their work.

Besides the ϋber-neatness of the ‘burbs, I remember the pungent smell of eucalyptus from the gum trees and the brilliant bold, blue sky. Although many cultural elements were easily identifiable, at first I felt like I was in some kind of alternative reality. Everything about this brazen new suburban world was so shiny and new that it completely took me out of my comfort zone and left me feeling a little cold. Even the local magpies were deceptively similar, until they squawked out their strange, robotic call.

Obviously, there was an awful lot I was still to discover, but these were my first impressions and I was relieved to later visit Adelaide and see some beautiful sandstone heritage architecture nestled amongst the shininess.

One of the positives I noticed straight away was the friendliness of everyone. In fact, friends I made, shop assistants and bus drivers were all so friendly, helpful and happy that the cynic in me couldn’t help but wonder if it was something of a front! It wasn’t - in general, the Australian public are an optimistic bunch.

Another early realisation was my complete lack of knowledge about basic systems and procedures – all of the things that at home, I took for granted. For example, on my first day, Lyndon collected me from the airport but then had to go off to work. Hence, I was left home alone in my own jet-lagged twilight zone. And then the doorbell rang. I opened the main front door but for some unfathomable reason couldn’t work out how to unlock the screen door (incidentally most Australian houses and windows have fly-screens).

Behind the screen stood a lone man with a wide-brimmed hat – minus the corks. In my woolly state of mind I felt vulnerable and suspicious and chastised myself for not finding out the emergency services number from Lyndon before he’d gone (again, incidentally this is 000). After a moment, it transpired that the mysterious man drawing me into slightly personal conversation was actually a Jehovah’s Witness and we ended up having quite a nice chat.

Over the two months, Lyndon and I went on some adventures which included flying to Sydney where we stayed in eclectic Glebe, saw all the touristy sights and I fell in love with Sydney’s sunny energy. Towards the end of our stay, Lyndon was unexpectedly called away with his job and so I went off to visit Lyndon’s folks in Melbourne where I met the rest of the family and saw the sights there. After a few days, I headed back to England to apply for a working holidaymaker visa, which was the most sensible visa option for us at that time.

In September, the visa came through and Lyndon jetted over to England collect me. We got engaged in Parga, Greece and then headed back to Adelaide together with the intention of getting married there some time down the track.

Although I made a few good friends during that first year in Australia, I was frequently homesick. The fact that my visa was fairly work-restrictive didn’t help matters, as I am sure that the routine of a proper job and familiar faces would have helped me find my own level. So, although I liked Adelaide and certainly came to see the benefits of its fine weather and laid back lifestyle, Lyndon was often away with his work and so at times I felt quite disconnected and as if I was at the other end of the earth all on my own – which I was.

Yet isn’t it funny how things turn out? After a year and a half, I was much more settled and had seen and learnt a lot more about Australia and grown in awe of its diversities and extremities – weather, distances, people, lifestyles, history and landscapes. Lyndon and I anticipated staying in Australia for at least a few years and by then, I was grateful for the opportunity. I was lucky enough to be able to visit home a couple of times and had just enrolled onto an open learning degree course. On top of all that, we had just been granted the first stage of our de facto visa. And then we broke up.

I moved back to England and secured work as a PA and caught up with family and friends. But to quote a well-loved cliché, true love never does runs smoothly. We got back together very soon afterwards but agreed I would remain in England until we were married there the following year.

During our "gap year", we visited each other a few times and in April 2005, were married in Lyndhurst, a town on the edge of the New Forest. We spent our honeymoon seeing the Pyramids and cruising down the Nile before we flew out to start married life in Newcastle, New South Wales, the city where Lyndon had since been posted.

And now we have been happily married for more than four years. I was granted permanent Australian residency in November 2005 and am soon to apply for citizenship. Although we may return to England in the future; the jury’s still out. Newcastle’s a great city which has given me regular work and much fun in the sun and a few years ago, we bought an old weatherboard house that we are in the slow process of renovating. Of course, it really helps to have made some fantastic friends over here, such as the lovely Laura, who I met soon after I arrived in Newcastle through our jobs at the local TAFE (college).